“Wouldn’t it be marvelous?”, he caroled, miming his arms around as if waving to some imaginary crowd, “It would be wonderful. Even children would know me. Everyone would remember me. I would be the talk of the town! People would be dying to get a glimpse of me!
“Don’t be so ambitious now!’, said Adam, shaking his head, “Don’t go about building sandcastles in air. Rarely do all wishes come true this quickly”.
“How despairing!”, he snapped, “You can’t possibly even think that I won’t succeed! Don’t you have any faith in me?”
“Life doesn’t always go your way”, Adam shrugged, “It’s a fair warning. Sometimes things take a turn for worse. Letters from anonymous aren’t from Hogwarts. Wardrobes don’t lead to Narnia. Pleasantly surprised is only grammatically correct. Dreams can change into nightmares in mere seconds”
A mocking laugh erupted from his mouth, a shrill crackle, “Are you sure you aren’t a little jealous, my friend?”
Adam’s face distorted into a repulsive scowl. “I have no reason to be! My words are as sincere as my intentions! Fame is not always golden!”
“My debut will shake the world!”, he vaunted, “This play is going to change my life! Just you wait and watch how I take over the world while you sit around with your pathetic books!”
Adam stared at him, at his condescending features, his scornful eyes and his sardonic smile. How he concealed his cowardice behind his acerbic nature and acidic words. He grimaced, “Acting requires courage. Courage doesn’t come to people with barbed tongues and besmirched hearts.”
“What are you trying to say?”, he snarled, malice dripping from his tone.
“Let’s just call it a night. You need to rest before your big breakthrough performance”
“You go ahead”, he crowed, “I need to go practice”.
And away he galloped, all the way to the theatre. On his way, he swung around lamp posts and laughed loudly, petted all the stray dogs. People turned around to look at the happiest man on earth.
“Nothing could go wrong”, he thought to himself, passing through the crowded alleys, “I’m going to be a star!”
The theatre was drowned in colors. The lights were being set up. A handful of workers trudged around, putting up curtains, setting the stage, placing the props. A large chandelier was being hung above the audience, and torches were being set up around the stage.
His eyes twinkled and his cheeks flushed. Suddenly he was full of life. The stage was being set up for his first lead role. He was going to be introduced to the world magnificently.
He practiced his lines backstage for several hours. He perfected his actions, immersed himself into his character. It was his golden chance, even slight tremor in his voice could prove fatal to his career.
When he finally decided to leave, the theatre was nearly empty. He turned around to see the brilliance of everything once again. That’s when he noticed one of the torches was crooked.
Gingerly, he reached out and straightened it. It tilted again. He frowned, clearly agitated. No, itwon’t do. He tried to straighten it again, but it tilted all the same. He must have someone fix this before the play begins. He couldn’t risk any imperfections at all. Everything was to be perfect.
By tomorrow evening, everything will change.
And by tomorrow evening, everything was different. He was the talk of the town. Everyone knew him. There were posters throughout the town. His beautiful face printed on them, below the photograph a few words in bold were printed which attracted everyone’s attention:
Wanted for Arson
Dead or Alive
Bounty: $50,000
A watchman had seen him messing around and meddling with the torches the night prior to the play. There was a humungous fire that had enveloped the whole theatre within the first hour of the play. Though a large crowd had managed to escape from the perilous affair, a few spectators had succumbed to the flames. The whole place was reduced to ashes. By the time help had arrived, nothing remained. Investigations were going on but the police had no lead except for the watchman’s words. Suspicions intensified when he was the first to flee the scene and was now nowhere to be found. His wish had come true. He was a star. But he had forgotten that stars don’t shine, they burn. Fame was golden and it had invaded its way into his life and set it ablaze.
People were dying to get a glimpse of him.
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